Toronto, Feb. 1, 2019 –In 2018, the GTA new home market saw the lowest total sales in almost 20 years, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.

Overall in 2018, there were 25,161 new homes sold in the GTA, according to Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence, making 2018 the year with the lowest number of new home sales in the GTA since Altus Group started tracking new home data in 2000.

There were 21,330 condominium apartments sold in 2018, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, down 38 per cent from 2017 but only 4 per cent less than the 10-year average. Setting a record low since Altus started tracking new home data in 2000, there were only 3,831 single-family homes sold in 2018, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), down 50 per cent from 2017 and down 74 per cent from the 10-year average.

“A number of factors combined to produce the drop in GTA new home sales in 2018,” said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s Executive Vice President, Data Solutions. “More stringent mortgage stress testing, rising interest rates and lack of single-family product affordable to a broader range of buyers all played a role. As well, the record new condo apartment sales in 2017 brought forward some demand that would otherwise have occurred in 2018.”

In December, the benchmark price for new condo apartments was $796,815, which was up 11.2 per cent over the last 12 months, and the benchmark price for single-family homes was $1,143,505, which was down 6.7 per cent over the last 12 months.

“From our point of view, the market is out of balance,” said David Wilkes, BILD President & CEO. “We must continue to work with all levels of government to ensure that policies don’t artificially price consumers out of the market.”

“We commend the provincial government for taking action toward increasing housing supply in Ontario,” Mr. Wilkes said. “We join other industry groups in calling on the federal government to revisit the stress test and allow a longer amortization period for first-time buyers. And we look forward to working with our municipal partners on removing barriers to development such as excessive red tape and outdated bylaws.”

At the end of December there were 15,768 new homes available for purchase, comprised of 10,687 condominium apartment units and 5,081 single family homes. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.

December New Home Sales by Municipality: **

December 2018

Condominium Apartments

Single-family

Total

Region

2018

2017

2016

2018

2017

2016

2018

2017

2016

Durham

40

17

50

44

15

75

84

32

125

Halton

48

163

59

21

47

93

69

210

152

Peel

108

89

130

32

11

152

140

100

282

Toronto

479

404

1,684

9

8

31

488

412

1,715

York

129

195

345

30

62

274

159

257

619

GTA

804

868

2,268

136

143

625

940

1,011

2,893

Source: Altus Group

With 1,500 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides $33 billion in investment value and employs 271,000 people in the region. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact John Provenzano, BILD Communications and Marketing Manager, at JProvenzano@bildgta.ca, (416) 617-7994.

*Altus Group should be credited as BILD’s official source of new home market intelligence.